1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to scanners and scanning methods that have an inclined imaging surface positioned on a base and that include additional light sources of color other than red, green, and blue for illuminating an original.
2. Description of the Related Art
Flatbed desktop scanners, either of the all in one type or independent variety, are popular in both businesses and personal use. The flatbed desktop scanner contains a rectangular base portion and a ledge positioned on the base portion. An original to be scanned is positioned on a scanning surface of the rectangular base portion, the ledge is closed and the original is scanned by the scanner. A disadvantage of such flatbed desktop scanners is that it requires a lot of desktop space that is undesirable.
Further, conventional scanners uses a scan bar for illuminating an original where the scan bar includes a red, a green, and a blue (RGB) LED to illuminate an original and an imaging element for capturing an image of the original. A major drawback of these scan bars is that there are visible areas in between the color spectrums of red, green, and blue that are not well illuminated.
FIG. 1 is a graphical illustration of areas 10 of the color spectrum that are well illuminated by the red, green, blue LEDs and areas 12 that are not well illuminated in an RGB system. Accordingly, some colors of the original are difficult for the imaging element to see since there is little light in those areas and the color reproduction in region 12 is difficult.
In conventional system, the actual colors in the areas 12 are assumed resulting in undesirable color tints for these colors in the scan of the original. This is referred to as metameric mismatch.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a scanner that requires less desk space and captures an image devoid of undesirable color tints, thereby addressing the problem of metameric mismatch and providing an improved output image.